Women on film

Persepolis, which starts just before the Islamic Revolution, is about Satrapi's family and many others who hoped that the overthrow of the Shah would bring freedom to Iran.

By HANNAH BROWN
women on film cinefile (photo credit: )
women on film cinefile
(photo credit: )
It's taken over a year since Persepolis was screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival for the movie to open throughout Israel, but it's well worth the wait. This unusual film, an animated movie about a girl's coming-of-age in Iran and, later, in Europe, where she flees to stay safe, was co-directed by Marjane Satrapi. Having lived in France for years, she made the film there. It's based on her semi-autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. This all may sound odd, especially to those not familiar with the graphic-novel genre, which has produced some classics, such as Art Spiegelman's Maus. They're a hybrid of comics and traditional narration and provide an effective means for authors to deal with big issues that have already gotten exhaustive treatment in regular prose. Persepolis, which starts just before the Islamic Revolution, is about Satrapi's family and many others who hoped that the overthrow of the Shah would bring freedom to Iran. Yet, the story is not politics but one young woman's struggle to fit in a world that is constantly undergoing violent shifts. Shocked to see a beloved relative imprisoned by the new regime, Satrapi's parents begin to worry when Marjane's love of pop music and her typical teenage rebellious tendencies threaten to put her in serious peril. Her family sends her to Vienna, where she is safe in some ways but terribly lost and vulnerable in others. Tired of living in exile, she returns to Iran hoping to find it more welcoming, but still has trouble adjusting. Satrapi's film, like Ari Folman's animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir (which was called "This year's Persepolis," by some critics at Cannes), avoids cliches and is consistently compelling viewing. It's also intriguing to see a movie that looks at the real lives and experiences behind the Iranian propaganda machine. While I doubt that Waltz with Bashir will be screened in Iran anytime soon, Israelis will no doubt be eager to see a vision of Iran that its leaders would not endorse. Speaking of coming-of-age films, the 4th annual Tel Aviv International Children's Film Festival takes place from September 24-27 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. During those four days, a dizzying 60 films will be screened (some of them shorts). All films in the festival, which is aimed mainly at children 6-16, will be dubbed or subtitled into Hebrew. There will also be a special program aimed at children 4-6, with the hope of getting them interested in quality films. This is a welcome antidote to the formula commercial movies often intended more for selling Happy Meals than telling a good story. Workshops teaching the basics of film production, along with other topics, are also planned for children of all ages. The opening film in the festival is Mother Nanny, a movie from the Philippines that has won awards all over the world. It tells the story of a woman who works as a nanny and the rivalry that develops between the nanny's daughter and the girl she cares for. Other films in the lineup include Mozart in China, which won the Audience Award at the Montreal Film Festival, the story of two boys from Austria who spend the summer in China and end up saving an old puppet theater slated for destruction; Dunia and Daisy, a Dutch movie based on a television show about two friends who take off on a trip to find themselves, made by Israeli-born Dana Neheushten, who will be present at the screening; and Max Minsky and Me, a prize-winning German film about a friendship between a girl and a boy from her class as she prepares for her Bat Mitzvah. Good news for Coen brothers fans (and anyone else who loves movies): The Lev Films and Theaters chain announced that they are installing cutting-edge digital projection in their theaters, which will start operating with the Coen brothers' latest, Burn After Reading, starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, which opens this week throughout Israel. For more information regarding the 4th annual Tel Aviv International Children's Film Festival visit kidsfestival.cinema.co.il or call (03) 733-0929.